Sisters Before Misters?
by Shanixx
Summary: Maria is just a mexican 15-nearly-16-year-old who is just back from the hospital. Alana is just an english girl, who moved to Mexico, and wants to visit her best friend. What happened to them could've happened to anyone. And then they meet Shawn. Some say "Sisters before Misters" but... Is their friendship really so close? Set in AU. OCxShawnxOC Rated M for language. Please Review.
1. Prologue

**Prologue.**

**Maria Daniela Torres. **

**Mexico, November 10th, 2002. 9:30AM**

I lie down on the back seat of the car. the curves and bumps make my nose ache and throb. It's covered in bandages and gauze, and filled with cotton, with only two plastic straw-like tubes poking out of my nostrils. I'd seriously rather breathe through my mouth like I have for the past two years, because when I breathe through my nose it feels like the air is poking right into my brain and I hate that.

Everything tastes like blood, because the cotton in my nose is so full of it the blood pours out. This is like nose menstruation. it'll last a few days, and I have a tampon in each nostril, plus the sanitary towel-like gauze that is taped below it, and the insides of my nose hurt with the force of the strongest menstrual pain when I'm not all drugged. Luckily, I got an extra shot of pain killers and two pills before getting out of the hospital.

We get to my house and my parents take me to their room and give me the tv remote. Mom says she and dad have to go to work, but I can watch whatever I want until they get back at eight. I nod. in ten days I'll turn sixteen, but I won't be able to go out to the movies with my friends like we do on birthdays, because I'll be stuck at home with nose menstruation. I doubt anyone visits me, except for Alana. She always does.

The phone rings and I pick up. "Bueno?" I say. "Goodness, woman, you sound like your mother!" I hear someone say on the other side of the line. No one calls me woman, or speaks to me in english, except for Alana. I smile as much as the pain allows me to. "hey, 'Lana" I say. I tend to hardly pronounce the "A" at the begining of her name, and she always smiles when I do it. it's our little best-friend thing. "How are you?" she asks, smiling. She has a funny brittish accent, even when she speaks spanish at school. She only speaks english to me and her mom. I don't have an accent. I speak like any standard american... even if I'm actually mexican. "I'm fine" I say. "my nose throbs and bleeds, but that's normal" I add.

"Are your parents with you?" She asks after a while "no, I'm alone with Sandy" I reply. Sandy is our pet dog. She's a Mexican Hound, according to my mother. Actually, she's just a cross between a poodle and a schnautzer. "want me to come over?" Alana asks, worried. "Do you have the time?" I ask "I always have the time, Mar" she replies. "I'll be there in five minutes" she adds and hangs up.

I go back to my TV, and then I see a bright light out of the window. I walk towards it, even though I'm not supposed to even poke my head outside because my immune system is messed up due to the surgery and my allergies could kick in and make everything go wrong. I hear Alana call from downstairs, but I just stare at the light. I hear her running up the stairs and the grabs my arm. The light engulfs both of us, and then there's nothing.

**Alana Gabriella Porter. **

**Mexico, November 10th, 2002. 9:30AM**

I hang up the phone after Maria does. It's about 9AM, so I am still in my pajamas. I know, I told her five minutes, but both of us know "five" means "fifteen". I get dressed in a simple dark teal long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and let my curly red hair loose. Maria always says I should wear more dresses, and I say she should wear more jeans. We're so different nobody would think we're friends.

I'm english. the stereotype says I have to be elegant, square, boring and poised. She's mexican. her stereotype is messy, sloppy, lazy and a fun-lover. Neither of us fits the stereotype of our nation. Maria is a feminine, antisocial bookworm who enjoys writing stories and speaks too fast, and I'm... well... I guess I'm just another kind of awkward that's even harder to describe.

What we do have in common is the fact that everyone thinks we're pretty except for ourselves. She tries to be pretty, but doesn't believe it herself, even though I think she's beautiful... but not hot-beautiful, she's beautiful in the way a child is. she looks innocent and cute. maybe that's why she doesn't have a boyfriend. boys tend to think she's some kind of saint. I... well... I stopped trying to be pretty long ago, but she's convinced that I'm the prettiest person she's ever seen. I suppose I'm she child kind of beautiful too, with my round face and my small nose, I look fourteen instead of seventeen. I must say, people in this town aren't percisely pretty, so we both qualify as some sort of beautiful, but neither of us believe it.

I go out to my car and get on. I didn't even ask my mum for permission, but she knows where I'm going... well, she actually just knows who I'm going to see. she doesn't know if it's in her house, the cinema, or anywhere else, but she doesn't care. she never cares. This town is too safe to actually care where your child is going, I guess. We moved here from London a few years ago, just when Maria moved here from Mexico City. Another thing in common: we're both from insecure, grey, capital cities. I guess that kind of binds us together in a way.

I get to her house. I have my own keys, so I don't even knock, I just walk in. Sandy comes down, barking like the neurotic old lady-dog she is. When she sees me, she growls with excitement and wags her tail, jumping around me. I laugh. "hey, girl" I say. "Maria! I'm here!" I scream, surprised that she didn't come down behind Sandy. Her nowe must hurt a lot. she always flies down the stairs when she hears my car approach down the street. she says she already knows its sound. She's a little weird, but she's still my best friend.

No reply comes to my call. maybe she's asleep, so I run up the stairs to see her. I don't want to bother her, so I guess I will wait for her to wake up, and then she'll ask why didn't I just wake her, and I'll try not to look at her like I'm her mother while I say I wanted her to rest. She says I always act like her mother.

When I get to her parents' room all I see is the light, the open window, and Maria standing there. I yell at her to stay away from the window, and run to grab her arm. the light kind of swallows me too, and I can't stop it, but at least I know she won't be alone, wherever we're going. At least I know I didn't fail her, and that's my last thought.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

**Maria**

I feel fresh air on my face, and my nose doesn't throb anymore. I'm stil in my grey shirt and black workout pants, barefoot. I feel grass under my feet. Wait a minute... grass? fresh air? un-throbbing nose? I open my eyes and find myself among a large group of people. too large for my liking. I start to freak out a little. I can't be outside... my immune system, my allergies... it's the middle of the night and I'm barefoot and I'm not wearing a jacket and my nose... my nose is not bothering me. I breathe in through it to calm mself down... What? did I just... what?!

My hand flies to my nose, expecting to feel the blood-soaked piece of gauze and the bandages, but I just find my skin. it's soft, and it doesn't hurt. I wrinkle my nose to make sure. yeah, I was wrong, it still hurts like hell. I try to stiffle a scream of pain, and end up whining like a kicked puppy. Some people look at me briefly, but they seem as confused as I am.

Then I remember... at least the last thing I saw. Alana. She must be around here too, right? I start screaming her name, walking through the bunch of people. A woman turns to me. "How do you know my name?" she asks, scared. she has a heavy accent, not quite mexican, but kind of latino. I would know. "not you... my... my friend... Alana... have you seen her? she has red hair, blue eyes, she's wearing... I don't know what she's wearing..." I stutter. "Maria!" I hear behind me.

I turn to see Alana. She looks worried, and surprised. She runs to me "Maria... your nose... what...?" "I have no idea" I interrupt her. "does it hurt?" she asks "kinda, but not like it did before... where are we, anyways?" I say. "no idea..." she replies. "and who is that woman?" Alana adds, looking at the latino woman who replied to me. "Alana... I guess that's her name... she replied when I called to you..." I say simply.

Alana looks around and sighs. "there's too many people..." she says. "I know..." I reply, holding her hand. I can't look past the people and neither can she. we're too short. Back in Mexico we count as tall or average, but wherever we are now, we're short. I'm guessing the US or Brittain, since everyone around us is speaking in english.

Then some other people, who are wearing uniforms, start dragging us all. I don't let go of Alana's hand when they put us all in trucks and police cars, and I hold her hand all the way to wherever they're taking us. I'm scared, and I know she is too. It's still weird to breathe through my nose, so I alternate between nose and mouth, trying to keep calm.

"try to breathe normally, you're making a lot of noise" Alana says. "sorry... I'm just... I'm scared... where are we going?" I reply. "to quarantine" the man on the front seat says. he's wearing the same uniform as the people back there, so he's one of them "you've all been missing for a while and we want to know what's wrong with you" he adds, and turns back to the front. I tighten my grip on Alana's hand. Now I'm even more scared.

**Alana**

I try to make Maria calm down all the way to quarantine, but she's just freaking out. I've seen her like this before. she's scared of not having control, she's scared of the unknown, and she's scared of pain. Right now, all of those are combined. she doesn't know what will happen, the can't control what will happen, and she hates the possibility that these people might hurt us. So do I, but I need to keep my fears out of my head if I want to help Maria.

We get to quarantine and we're guided by the people in uniforms. on the back of their jackets I see "NTAC". What is NTAC? I sigh and try to shove that out of my mind, still holding Maria's hand, trying to steady her, to keep her calm. She's still breathing weirdly, and that makes me nervous, but I keep that to myself. I know she's not used to her nose yet. she should still have the bandages as far as I know.

They shove us all into a room. I don't know how many of us there is, but I know there must be thousands of people. this place is huge, and we still flood the place. I find an empty corner and drag Maria there with me. She's looking around, scared but curious. Maria is always curious.

"We need to fid out what's going on in here, okay?" I say. "we need to talk to these people, find out if they know anything. I'll meet you in this same corner at..." I look at the clock at the far end of the place. it's 9:30am. "I'll meet you here at eleven, deal?" I finish. Maria nods. "deal... see you at eleven" she says and leaves.

I walk the other way, and one of the agents grabs my shoulder. "come with me, please" he says. I try to break free of his hold. "Miss, this is not a request, is an order. come with me" he repeats, more sternly. I sigh and let him drag me. there's not much more I can do. They lead me to a white room with a camera and a chair. I panic a little, but don't let them see. "Alana Gabriella Porter, am I right?" asks a man. I nod softly. "I'm Thomas Baldwin, and I need you to answer a few questions"

_Author's note: I do not remember if Tom actually did the interrogation tapes, or some of them for that matter. If he didn't, don't hate me for that, please xDDD_


End file.
